Final Stats

EASTON, Pa. â€"â€" Gaby Smith (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) notched her second double-double of the season to help the Navy volleyball team record a four-set victory over Lafayette Saturday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa. The Mids (19-8, 9-6 Patriot League) defeated the Leopards (4-22, 2-14), 22-25, 25-9, 25-9, 28-26.

Today's win by Navy coupled with losses by Lehigh Friday at Army West Point and today at Holy Cross clinches the fourth and final berth in the Patriot League Tournament for the Mids regardless of what happens in Sunday's Navy at Loyola match.

"To go from where we were in the middle of last season to today is an impressive turnaround by our players," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, whose Mids started the 2015 season with an overall record of 2-17 and a Patriot League record of 0-6, but since have compiled record of 26-9 in all and 16-9 in league play. "Our players deserve so much credit. They were determined that the start we had a year ago was just that, a start. You could see the sparks starting to fly from our engine toward the end of last year (when the Mids closed the year with a 7-3 record) and that has carried over into this season. But this still remains just a start and we are excited about the possibilities ahead of this program."

The first match between the Navy and Lafayette saw the Mids record a 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 victory over the Leopards, and the first set of today's match was every bit as close as all three of the sets in the initial meeting were. Navy jumped out to leads of 6-3, 11-7 and 14-11 in the first set before Lafayette tied the score at 14-14. The teams were either tied or within one point of each other until a 3-0 run by the Leopards gave them a 20-17 advantage. The Mids closed to within one point at both 20-19 and 21-20 but could not attain the equalizing point in either instance.

Lafayette recorded 16 kills in the first set of today's match, but would tally just two kills in the second set and six in the third set. Navy totaled 25 kills over sets two and three to dominate both and take the 2-1 edge in sets.

"Our serve really started to heat up in the middle two sets," said Bock, "and then our blocking was able to get into a good rhythm."

The fourth set was a different story as it was close from start to finish. Navy took its largest lead of the set at 10-7, but then the score would be tied at 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Lafayette slowly edged its way out to a 20-16 lead, but Navy tied the score at 21 and it would again be tied at 22. Navy committed back-to-back attack errors to give Lafayette a 24-22 lead and two set-point opportunities. The Mids erased one such chance on a kill from Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.), then Shelby McCool (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) posted another kill to tie the set at 24-24.

McCool notched a kill to end the next point, which meant Navy would serve for the match with a 25-24 lead. The Mids went back to McCool and this time she was blocked which tied the set again. A kill by Dorothy Murray (Jr., Harbor City, Calif.) gave Navy a 26-25 lead, but Lafayette extended the match on a kill by Elizabeth Walsh. A service error by the Leopards gave the Mids a 27-26 lead, and they were able to close out the match when Smith posted her fifth kill of the frame.

"Lafayette is known as one of the hardest working teams in the league," said Bock. "That showed the first time we played them and it again was the case today. They played about as well in the first and last sets as most teams we have played this season.

"I think we played a pretty consistent match, though the variant scores may show otherwise. But we were pretty stable in most facets of the game."

Navy outhit Lafayette, .246-.109, and tallied 51 kills to 37 for the Leopards. Aiding the Mids greatly was their success at the service line. Navy recorded 14 aces and just eight service errors while Lafayette had three aces and 10 errors. The Mids also held advantages over the Leopards in both digs (70-51) and blocks (9-7).

Smith led the Mids on offense with 11 kills and added 16 digs to tally her second double-double of the season. She also contributed three aces. Murray joined her in reaching double-digit kills with 10, while middle blocks Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) and Patrick recorded nine and six kills, respectively.

Smith was one of four Mids to record multiple aces. Patricia Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) and Olivia Kluger (Jr., Carmel, Ind.) each had four and Sydney Shrean (So., Louisville, Ky.) had two. Shearn also led Navy's passers with 18 digs, while Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Calif.) had 12. For the Navy blockers, Martin ended the match with two solos and two assists, Patrick had five total blocks and both Smith and Murray had two.

"Gaby had a really good all-around match," said Bock. "It was not just her leading us or being near the lead statistically in several categories, it was the timing of her plays that really had an impact on the end result. And Dorothy just played great. Much of the reasoning why we controlled the middle sets can be attributed back to her."

Walsh led Lafayette with 11 kills.

The Mids will close the regular season with a 2 p.m. match Sunday at Loyola. Links to free live stats and video of the match can be found at NavySports.com.

"Though we are already in the playoffs," said Bock, "Sunday's match still very much has a lot of meaning to it. We want to keep playing at the level we have been lately so we can better carry that over into next weekend. This is not the time to look past a match. And the chance for 20 overall wins and 10 league wins are two huge milestone this team can reach. Not many Navy volleyball teams can say they were able to accomplish either one. Reaching both would more ways for this team to solidify the turnaround they have achieved."

The Mids will then compete in the Patriot League Tournament Nov. 19-20 at American. The two semifinal matches will be played Saturday â€"â€" Navy will face top-seed American, Army West Point and Colgate will be the other match â€"â€" with the final taking place next Sunday.